NHL

Osgood proves good in return to Wings' lineup

DETROIT (AP)

Chris Osgood's mini midseason training camp produced results.
The struggling goalie made 30 saves in his return to Detroit's lineup after a four-game break, leading the Stanley Cup champion Red Wings to a 2-1 victory over the Los Angeles Kings on Friday night.
Osgood has a 3.22 goals-against average, which is 42nd in the NHL, and an .883 save percentage, which is 32nd. He has been working on his technique and fundamentals with goaltending coach Jim Bedard.
"The physical skills were always there. It was just a matter of resetting my mind and just playing the moment. Now this game is over," Osgood said. "I've always been like that, but for some reason I got away from that the first half of the year. You can fill your mind with too many things and it's hard to play when you've got a lot of stuff in your head."
Derek Meech and Tomas Kopecky scored for the Red Wings.
"You don't just get lucky. If you work hard good things happen to you. All the credit goes to Ozzie," Detroit coach Mike Babcock said. "Tonight was a real positive showing for him. I'm sure he feels good about himself. Now he can breathe a little and not carry the weight of the world around."
Alexander Frolov scored for Los Angeles, and Jonathan Quick made 39 saves.
"I think we did some good things in the first period. We managed the puck well and was getting it on the net," Kings coach Terry Murray said. "Unfortunately, we made some passes through the middle of the ice and that gave Detroit some momentum on turnovers."
Meech opened the scoring with 7:52 left in the second period, charging in from the point to put in a rebound off a goal-mouth scramble for his second goal.
"I saw (Los Angeles' Anze) Kopitar lose his stick. (Ville) Leino came from behind the net and tried to stuff it," Meech said. "And I came in looking for the garbage."
Kopecky made it 2-0 1:43 into the third period when he beat Quick on a one-timer from along the goal line. Kopecky took a short pass from Valtteri Filppula after Quick misplayed the puck behind the net. It was Kopecky's fourth goal.
Frolov put Los Angeles on the board with a power-play goal 4:48 into the third. He put in his own rebound off a goal-mouth scramble for his 26th goal.
"In the first period we had the puck in our zone for a lot of minutes," Kopitar said. "The second period was the period that bogged us down and we shot ourselves in the foot."
Notes: Detroit RW Marian Hossa didn't play because of a sore neck. ... Los Angeles captain Dustin Brown returned after missing two games to be with his wife for the birth of their child. ... Red Wings F Kirk Maltby played his 1,000th game. ... Kings LW Raitis Ivanans left the game early in the second period because of an upper-body injury. He is day-to-day and will be evaluated when the team arrives in Chicago on Saturday.